Monday, April 14, 2008

The interesting posts of the day, below the fold.________________________________________________________

Art: The Martyrdom of St. Livinus, Rubens, 1633

The most eloquent post of the day is at Belmont Club, with Wretchard discussing the significance of the Pope’s visit to ground zero. ". . . Bin Laden knows that Benedict will call to each of the hijackers by their name; not as an accuser but as shepherd looking for a long-long flock. He will bid them come forth into the light, for his staff is meant for wolves." (H/T Consul at Arms). Perhaps we just need more interfaith dialogue.

From the Barking Moonbat: Extremist ideas are being spread by Islamic study centers linked to British universities and backed by multi-million-pound donations from Saudi Arabia and Muslim organizations. And at Fulham Reactionary, dhimmi children taken on a propaganda tour of a Mosque are given a bit of reality: "A primary school in Amsterdam wished to provide its pupils with an understanding for other cultures. But during a visit to a mosque, the children were told they were dogs."

The New Mexico Human Rights Commission fine of a photographer for refusing to accept a job photographing a gay wedding is documented by Blonde Sagacity. This has got to be a First Amendment violation. I do hope it makes its way up the court system.

Some real problems across the pond flagged by MK at Crusader Rabbit: One in every five murders or manslaughters in England and Wales is committed by a foreigner, police figures revealed. In one area of London, the figure is one in three. This is despite the fact that foreigners represent only around one in 16 of the general population. The UK is just so screwed. And from Dinah Lord: The Royal Navy, once the scourge of brigands on the high seas, has been told by the Foreign Office not to detain pirates because doing so may breach their human rights.

At the Liberty Corner, a black female prosecutor speaks out: "Race does not enter the equation for me. My question to these black people who believe me to be a traitor is, when will you connect the dots?"

Classical Values points out that the dust has far from settled on Obama’s remarks, and that the remarks themselves sound far too redolent of Karl Marx’s infamous assertion that "religion is the opiate of the masses."

I personally find it hard to imagine a more obnoxious or elitist view than that Senator Obama espoused when he tied small town values, including religion, a belief in individual rights in gun ownership, and secure borders, to bitterness over a lack of economic opportunities in the hinterlands. As the Politico writes, there are 12 reasons "bitter is bad" for Obama. Obama is a tabula rosa no more, and I have yet to find a single thing filled in on that formerly blank slate that is either genuine or admirable.

Obama’s mainstream pastor of 20 years, the Rev. Wright – he who only gave outrageously racist sermons on days that Obama did not attend church with his family – has done it again. Gateway Pundit provides the information:

America’s founding fathers "planted slavery and white supremacy in the DNA of this republic," and adding that Thomas Jefferson wrote, " ‘God would punish America for the sin of slavery.’ I guess that makes Thomas Jefferson unpatriotic."